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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Still a Kid at Heart

"Mom, mom, mom, look what I have!" Little Girl had gotten her sister to take her to the store, and she came in with her prize, a pumpkin.

Little Girl's pumpkin, waiting for carving.

"It's just right!" she gloated. "I'm going to carve it in a couple of weeks. Until then, may I set it on the porch?"Of course, i said. After all, i'm a Y'at from N'Awlins, and you always know us by having stuff on the front porch that needs to be put up.As usual, my tone was lost on her, and really, that is one way you know a Y'at. Anyway.The next morning, as i was preparing to take her to school, she said, "I'm so glad I don't have to ride the bus in the morning. The afternoon is okay, but the bus driver, Miss Fatima, yells a lot. She doesn't like noise or anyone moving around much on the bus. And I really don't like yelling in the morning. This way, it's nice and quiet on the way to school."Do you want me to start picking you up in the afternoons again? i asked."No," she said. "I don't mind her in the afternoons, and she likes me. I'm just glad I don't have to get up even earlier in the morning to take the bus."Then, as i headed to the car, i noticed that she lagged behind. Leaning over to peek around the Sago palm bush, i saw her do something that made my heart sing.As much as she tries to be a grown up, she showed me that the little kid in her is still alive and well. She was saying good-bye to her pumpkin!

Today is:

Abolition Day -- Saint Barthelemy

Bring Your Teddy Bear to Work Day -- at your own risk! sponsored by Susan E. Schwartz of "Teddies Are The Answer"

Messenger Appreciation Day -- 10/9 in radio talk is a request to repeat information

Moldy Cheese Day (Sorry, but I do not like the stinky, moldy cheeses, at least not the heavier ones.)

Mop Fair -- Tewkesbury, England (through tomorrow; festival dating back to the 12th century, originally a fair in which prospective employers came to find laborers, now two days of fun, fairgrounds rides, traditional games and sideshows, and more)

National Day of Honor -- Peru (sometimes translated as Day of Dignity; commemorates the nationalization of the countries oil fields)

National Stop Bullying Day -- US

National Submarine/Grinder/Hoagie/Hero/PoBoy/Pierogi Day -- each of these has its own special day, but today you get to pick which one you want

Leif Ericson discovers "Vinland" (somewhere in New England or Nova Scotia, possibly?), 1000Leif Ericson lands in L'Anse aux Meadows, Canada, a definitive European landing in the "New World", 1003The Korean Hangual alphabet is devised, 1446Founder of Rhode Island Roger Williams is banished from the Massachusetts Bay Colony as a religious dissident after he speaks out against punishments for religious offenses and giving away Native American land, 1635Collegiate School of CT (Yale University) is chartered in New Haven, 1701Father Francisco Palou founds Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California, 1776City of Hobart, Tasmania, founded, 1804Official opening of the University of Ghent, 1817Isaac Singer patents the sewing machine motor, 1855Joshua Stoddard of Worcester, Mass., patents the first Calliope, 1855The first US underground pipeline for carrying oil is laid in Pennsylvania, 1865Aaron Montgomery starts the mail order business that will later become Montgomery Ward, 1872The Universal Postal Union is created as part of the Treaty of Berne, 1874The first 2-way telephone conversation over outdoor wires occurs, 1876Washington Monument opens to the public, 1888Woodrow Wilson becomes the first US president to attend a World Series Game, 1915National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) forms, 1926Hoover Dam begins transmitting electricity to L.A., 1936A day after being captured, Marxist revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara is executed for attempting to incite a revolution in Bolivia, 1967The Khmer Republic is proclaimed in Cambodia, 1970Abolition of capital punishment in France, 1981A 13 kilogram (est.) fragment of the Peekskill meteorite lands in the driveway of the Knapp residence in Peekskill, New York, destroying the family's 1980 Chevrolet Malibu, 1992North Korea allegedly tests its first nuclear device, 2006First lunar impact of the Centaur and LCROSS spacecrafts as part of NASA's Lunar Precursor Robotic Program, 2009